CIty's winter road maintenance budget took a beating but FEMA money would put it in the black

LACONIA — Ice and snow in the first half of March put the Department of Public Works' winter maintenance $35,564 in the red.During the month overtime costs reached $13,318 while the DPW used 364 tons of salt and 271 tons of sand and spent another $3,756 on outside contractors, bringing total expenses for the month to $41,202.City Manager Scott Myers said yesterday that the federal government has qualified eight of the 10 counties in New Hampshire for disaster relief as a result of the snow storm that struck on February 8. The city spent more than $60,000 clearing roads and sidewalks over the course of three days. Myers said he expects the Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse the city for 75-percent its costs, which would put the budget in the black.Without sufficient reimbursement, Myers said he would seek to squeeze funds from other lines in the DPW's budget to eliminate the deficit and, as a last resort, draw on the winter maintenance fund stabilization fund, which was established last year after a mild winter left the department with a surplus of some $90,000.